System for final disposal of waste by compaction and bagging

ABSTRACT

S YSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING , comprising a set of operations used for determining the best manner of disposing of waste in general (garbage), making use of a system with or without recycling, and using high pressure compaction in order to reduce the empty spaces and liquids as a result of the compaction and existing in the waste, for the purpose of their further bagging for conditioning and disposal in proper places.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a CONTINUATION application claiming the benefit of priority of the co-pending International Patent Application No. PCT/BR2009/000025 with an international filing date of 29 Jan. 2009 that designated the United States, which claims the benefit of priority of BRAZIL Patent Application No. PI 0800284-3, filed 29 Jan. 2008, the entire disclosures of all Applications are expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

All publications and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following descriptive report on the application of this invention refers to the development of a system for final disposal of waste by compaction and bagging which comprises a set of operations employed to determine the best manner of disposing waste in general (garbage) by using a system with or without recycling and high pressure compaction, in order to reduce empty spaces arising from this process and existing in the waste for the purpose of its further bagging for conditioning and final disposal in proper places.

STATE OF THE ART

Waste or garbage is any useless, unwanted and/or worthless material generated by human activities, which has to be disposed of. It is any material whose owner disposes of it, desires to dispose of it, or has to dispose of it.

The term “waste” is generally applied to materials in solid state. Meanwhile, liquids or gases considered useless or unwanted are generally called residues (liquid or gaseous). However, both terms ‘waste’ and ‘residue’ can be also used to describe fluids and solids, respectively.

There are different types of waste that can be classified by their composition, for example:

-   -   Organic waste whose chief component is human-generated garbage         and which may be highly hazardous since it may host and easily         transmit a great variety of vermin, bacteria, fungi, and         viruses. The organic waste may be sorted and used as fertilizer         (composting) or for producing certain types of fuels such as         biogas which is rich in methane (anaerobic digestion).     -   Inorganic waste which includes any material that is of         non-biological origin or that has been generated by human         activities such as plastic, metals and alloys, glass, etc.

A great deal of inorganic waste poses a big problem: when thrown away directly into the environment without prior treatment, it takes a long time to decompose. For example, plastic is composed of a complex structure of molecules strongly linked among themselves, which makes difficult its degradation and further digestion by decomposing agents (primarily, bacteria). To solve this problem, different inorganic products are biodegradable.

-   -   Toxic residues which include batteries, that contain acids and         heavy metals in their composition, certain types of inks (such         as used in printers), and industrial refuse besides.     -   Highly toxic residues composed of nuclear and hospital waste.     -   Household waste formed by solid residues produced by household         activities, out of which approximately 60% is organic and the         rest is composed of plastic packaging, cans, glass, paper, etc.     -   Urban solid waste which includes household waste such as         residues produced at public facilities (for instance, parks),         business facilities, as well as construction and demolition         debris.     -   Industrial waste generated by industries, which is generally         highly harmful to the environment and human health.

There are different known kinds of waste disposal, for example:

-   -   Landfills are considered to be a practical, cheap manner of         disposing of urban and industrial waste in addition to untreated         sewage. That is why they are the most used manner of treating         waste. Large areas of land on which the waste is deposited are         used for this purpose. However, besides being a source of         pollution of soil, rivers and lakes, and air, they make useless         several materials that could be recycled. The pollution arises         from the process of decomposition of organic matter that         generates enormous quantities of biogas which contains methane         and other toxic components, and leachate, a liquid that contains         toxic components that flow out of the waste into the soil and         bodies of water (such as rivers and lakes) in the region.     -   Incinerators literally incinerate waste reducing it to ashes.         They are highly polluting and produce enormous quantities of         pollutants such as gases that contribute to worsening the         greenhouse effect. It is a method used for destructing hospital         waste that may contain agents causing potentially fatal         diseases.     -   Composting is an aerobic treatment by means of which organic         matter decomposes into fertilizer or compost.     -   Anaerobic digestion or methanization is a treatment by anaerobic         decomposition that produces biogas which is composed of         approximately 50% of methane and may be burned or used as a         fuel. The solid residue of the anaerobic digestion can be         aerobically treated to produce compost.     -   Permanent confinement is mainly meant for nuclear waste.     -   Recycling is a process that involves reusing organic and         inorganic material of the waste. It is considered to be the best         waste management method as far as the environment goes since it         reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills, and diminishes         the need for extracting more raw materials directly from the         nature. However, many materials cannot be continuously recycled         (especially, fibers). The recycling of certain materials is         viable but it is little or not practiced at all because it is         not economically feasible. Some forms of waste, especially,         highly toxic waste, cannot be recycled and has to be disposed         of.

Different systems for recycling, treating, composting, storing, and disposing of urban, industrial, etc. waste were found in our search for the art relating to the technical field of the invention (B09B 3/00, B65F 9/00, and B65F 1/14).

BRPI 0.100.745 by ZULAF discloses a selective waste collection system, implementation of a recycling and waste disposal center for sorting and processing urban, rural, business, industrial and service, and even health care waste, sanitary and industrial landfills, units for recycling construction debris, units for bagging sorted materials for further recycling, units for anaerobic (optional) and aerobic composting, recycling of biogas and thermal power (optional), in addition to cemeteries for dead animals, thermal treatment of solid health care residues, and installations for pre-conditioning waste for further processing and disposing of it in landfills, and treatment (or evaporation) of residual water from the process and leachate.

Another waste recycling procedure is disclosed by BRPI 9.402.243 by ULIANA and comprises a dispensing area in an area of manual selection of recyclable materials, a washing area, waste collection trucks depositing waste onto the horizontal sides of the dispensing area that convey said waste to a feeding box that feeds slanted transporting conveyor belts that carry the waste up to a container (9) that will be taken to a selection area, or to a big capacity container which is adequate for rational transportation to a landfill in the selection area, the waste being transported by the conveyor belt from which the responsible personnel pick the recyclable materials.

BRPI 9.504.827 by LIBARDI also serves as an example, in which organic waste is taken by trucks to the landfills of the dumps, waste incinerators or composting stations, and inorganic waste is taken to a storehouse (or storehouses) with a slanted transporting conveyor belt that carries it into the feed hopper, from which it will be thrown onto the main conveyor belt with a multiplicity of the lateral transporting conveyor belts for collecting the waste selected by professional pickers, said conveyor belts having open boxes for collecting selected waste, while the unselected waste is taken to a box placed at the other end of the main conveyor belt.

Another patent that involves the process of industrial, urban, and hospital waste management by selecting, recycling, composting, and incinerating waste materials by means of a pyrolytic process is disclosed by BRPI 9.816.124 by BENTO et alii which presents, as a principle, the incineration of waste by a process called pyrolysis in which the waste itself is a fuel of the incinerators used in the process, thus eliminating the need for landfills.

Furthermore, BRPI 0.204.673 describes a station that generates electric power by transforming solid household waste, and BRPI 9.806.421 by MORTE describes an advanced waste processing station.

PROBLEMS OF THE ART

As can be seen in the art disclosed above, all of the known solutions use the selection, recycling, pyrolysis, composting, and landfilling with some details changed. However, the pyrolysis produces a huge environmental impact as a result of CO₂ emissions that only contribute to increasing the greenhouse effect, and the remaining processes all end up in undesirable landfills. Some processes disclosed by the art are harmful to the environment such as the burning of waste or landfills. The composting is an advanced treatment and a lot less harmful to the environment, in which the residual methane gas from the anaerobic activity of the bacteria may be used. Nevertheless, in order to be able to use the biogas, a confining structure has to be built, which generates an additional cost to the waste.

Waste is confined only in case of nuclear and hospital residues due to the risk of nuclear and biological contamination. Nonetheless, this confinement is extremely expensive and it is permanent.

SOLUTION PROPOSED BY THIS INVENTION

Therefore, due to the considerations relevant to the state of the art discussed above, one of the objectives of the application of this invention is the development of a final waste disposal system with compaction and bagging which uses the means of collection and compaction described in the patents PI 0.206.617 (Attached collector and compactor for collecting household waste) and PI 0.300.535 (Attached collector, compactor, and bagging machine for waste in general), these two waste collection devices using the bagging of the highly compacted waste in adequate high-resistance plastic bags. Said plastic bags, after compaction at high pressure, are sent to a proper landfill.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

This application for the patent of invention proposed herein is characterized by means of the drawings representative of the system for final disposal of waste by compaction and bagging in such a manner that the proposed method could be wholly reproduced by the adequate technique, allowing the full characterization of the functionality of the objective claimed herein.

The descriptive part of the report is based on the developed figures that express the best or preferred manner of implementing the product conceived herein through a detailed and consecutive numeration, in which it clarifies the aspects that may be implied by the adopted embodiment in order to clearly determine the protection claimed herein.

These figures are merely illustrative and may vary since they do not digress from what has been initially claimed herein.

Therefore, in this case, it is as follows:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the plan of the waste disposal system with waste compaction and bagging without the application of recycling, composed of two compactors fed by the same feed hopper (optionally, individual feed hoppers) whose estimated bagging capacity is up to 100 T/day. Another option is to use only one compactor with the bagging capacity of up to 50 T/day;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view from above of the system disclosed in the FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the proposed system with compaction and bagging, but with the recycling process;

FIG. 4 shows a plan of a landfill for disposal of bags after the compaction stage as a result of one of the solutions proposed above; and

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the plan of the installation of the waste compacting, bagging machine with no truck unloading.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The proposed system comprises two solutions:

a) The system without recycling is composed of:

-   -   A concrete ramp (1) to provide access for a truck that has         collected household waste which is unloaded through a cargo gate         (11);     -   A metallic recipient or feed hopper (2) that receives waste from         the truck, protected by an expanded metal plate railing (4) and         a mesh (6) that carries the material from the feed hopper to the         compactor;     -   A compactor (3 and 3 a) that receives the waste from the         recipient, feed hopper (2), compacts it at high pressure (10.00         Kg/cm2) reducing the initial amount of waste by more than four         times by means of a compacting plate (7), which, in its turn, is         activated by the hydraulic cylinder (8), the waste being bagged         later in laminated and water-proof polypropylene bags, with one         or two bags (5 and 5 a) of an adequate diameter and length, and         sealed by means of a hydraulic system (9), and the bag is         further transported through a back opening which is activated by         another hydraulic system (10).

b) The system with recycling is composed of:

-   -   A concrete ramp (12) to provide access for a truck that has         collected household waste;     -   A first feed hopper (13) that receives waste from the truck;     -   A conveyor belt (14) that receives the waste from the first feed         hopper and transfers it to a second conveyor belt.     -   A second conveyor belt (15) installed on a metallic platform         (16) from which the pickers select the solid waste with added         value into specific carts (20);     -   A second feed hopper/grinder (17) that receives the waste from         the second conveyor belt (organic waste);     -   A compactor (18) for up to 50 T/day or two compactors for up to         100 T/day that receive(s) waste into recipients (second feed         hopper/grinder) and compact(s) it at high pressure (10.00         Kg/cm2) reducing the initial amount of waste by more than four         times, the waste being bagged later in laminated and water-proof         polypropylene bags (19) of an adequate diameter and length. The         bag is sealed by means of a hydraulic system (9) and the bag is         transported through an opening of the back gate which is         activated by another hydraulic system (10).

Bagging System

The bags (5 and 5 a) are produced in stationary compactors (3, 3 a, or 18) that receive the organic waste material (with no economic value) from the selection conveyor belts (15) and a feed hopper (17). The waste is compacted at high pressure and bagged in laminated water-proof polypropylene bags (19) whose weight of the tissue may vary from 120, 160 up to 180 g/cm2, depending on the kind of waste that is bagged.

The bagged waste has no contact with air, which avoids spreading unpleasant odors, proliferation of insects and bacteria that cause different diseases. Nor has it contact with rainwater, thus avoiding the formation of leachate and, as a result, contamination of the ground water.

The compactor is fitted with a hydraulic device that allows preparing and replacing the bag refill itself, thus allowing the preparation of different bags in each refill.

The weight of the bags may vary (predominantly, organic waste) and may exceed 4.5 tons; however, when a lot of dry waste is mixed, it may reach 3.5-4.0 tons.

The completely full bags store 5 m³ of compacted waste, that's why they may absorb up to 20 m³ of waste in its natural state since its compaction may reach 4:1.

According to the data provided by the bag tissue manufacturer, if they are covered (there's no contact with ultraviolet light), the tissue will last 200 years. However, when exposed to sunlight, its duration is 6 months. In the event that longer exposure to sunlight is necessary, the tissue can be protected by anti-UV layers.

The bags can be moved and/or transported in a practical and safe manner with the help of a device especially developed for moving them, which is attached to a motorized crane or the like.

Disposal of Clean Waste Bags and Storage Capacity Per Hectare

Bags can be disposed of in a landfill in three different ways:

-   -   Negative. When the layers of bags are below the ground level,         that is, they are fully buried.     -   Positive. When the layers of bags are placed on the soil         upwards, that is, no bag is buried.     -   Semipositive. One part of the bags is buried and another part is         on the ground. Example: in three layers of the bags, the first         layer is under the ground, and the other two layers are on the         ground.

For the purposes of calculation, let us consider a positive landfill where the bags will be placed one next to the other with a maximum distance between the bags of 0.15 meters. We are projecting, above the basis level, the height of two more bags, the bags being arranged in a pyramidal manner reaching the total height of 5 meters. Thus, we will be able to store 6,318 bags or 31,590 tons per hectare.

Considering that there are 56 bags placed in one way (with enough spacing between them) and 39 bags placed in the opposite way (with enough spacing between them) in the first layer of bags, therefore, we can deposit a total of 2,184 bags.

Equally, if we consider the second layer, we will form a pyramid of 54×39=2,106 bags.

The third layer: 52×39=2,028 bags.

The total of the bags deposited on one hectare=6,318 bags. Thus, approximately 31,590 tons of compacted waste can be stored on one hectare.

Also, digging a 0.80-deep pit that is equal to one half of the diameter of the bag (1.60 meters) is quite common. The dirt from the pit is later used for covering the bags in the last layer, thus avoiding transportation of earth for covering the bags. 

1. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTION AND BAGGING, characterized by comprising two solutions: a) a system without recycling is composed of: a concrete ramp (1) to provide access for a truck that has collected household waste which is unloaded through a cargo gate (11); a metallic recipient or feed hopper (2) that receives the waste from the truck, protected by an expanded plate railing (4) and a mesh (6), which transfers the material from the feed hopper to a compactor; a compactor (3 and 3 a) that receives the waste from the feed hopper (2), compacts it at high pressure (10.00 Kg/cm2) reducing the initial amount of waste by more than four times by means of the compacting plate (7) which, in its turn, is activated by the hydraulic cylinder (8), the waste being later bagged in laminated and water-proof polypropylene bags, with one or two bags (5 and 5 a) of the adequate diameter and length, and the bag being sealed by means of a hydraulic system (9) and transferred through the opening of the back gate which is activated by another hydraulic system (10); b) the system with recycling is composed of: a concrete ramp (12) to provide access for a truck that has collected household waste; a first feed hopper (13) that receives the waste from the truck; a conveyor belt (14) that receives the waste from the first hopper and transfers it to a second conveyor belt (15); a second conveyor belt (15) installed on a metallic platform (16) from which the pickers select the solid waste with added value into specific carts (20); a second feed hopper/grinder (17) that receives the waste from the second conveyor belt (organic waste); a compactor (18) or two for 50 t/day or 100 t/day, respectively, that receive(s) the waste and compacts it at high pressure (10.00 Kg/cm²) reducing the initial amount of waste by more than four times and later bagging it in laminated and water-proof polypropylene bags (19) of the adequate diameter and length, the bags being sealed by means of a hydraulic system (9) and transferred through the opening of the back gate which is activated by another hydraulic system (10).
 2. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING, in accordance with the claim 1 and characterized by the fact that the bags are produced in stationary compactors (5, 5 a, or 18) that receive the organic waste material (with no economic value) from the selection conveyor belts (15).
 3. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING, in accordance with the claim 2 and characterized by the fact that the waste is compacted at high pressure and bagged in water-proof polypropylene bags (19) whose weight of the tissue may vary depending on the kind of waste that is bagged.
 4. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING, in accordance with the claim 3 and characterized by the fact that the bagged waste has no contact with air or rainwater.
 5. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING, in accordance with the claim 1 and characterized by the fact that the compactor is fitted with a hydraulic device that allows producing and replacing the bag refill itself, thus allowing producing different bags in each refill.
 6. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING, in accordance with the claim 3 and characterized by the fact that the weight of the bags may vary (predominantly, organic waste) which may exceed 4.5 tons although it may reach 3.5-4.0 tons when a lot of dry waste is mixed.
 7. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING, in accordance with the claim 1 and characterized by the fact that the bags can be moved and/or transported in a practical and safe manner with the help of a device especially developed for moving them and attached to a motorized crane or the like;
 8. SYSTEM FOR FINAL DISPOSAL OF WASTE BY COMPACTING AND BAGGING, in accordance with the claim 1 and characterized by the fact that the bags can be disposed of in a landfill in three different manners: negative, when the layers of the bags are below the ground level, that is, they are absolutely buried; positive, when the layers of the bags are placed on the ground upwards, that is, no bag is buried; and semipositive, when one part of the bags is buried, and one part is above the ground level; for example, in three layers of the bags, the first layer is under the ground and the other two are on the ground. 